Official: Patients registered on statements urgently need medical trips

SANAA, April 07 (YPA) – The head of Supreme Medical Committee, Mutahar al-Darwish, has confirmed that the 16 flights within the truce mechanism represent only one-thousandth of the actual need for patients registered in the statements of the Higher Medical Committee.

Mutahar al-Darwish explained that the agreement between the Ministries of Health, Foreign Affairs and Transport will allocate 50% of the flight seats within the truce agreement for patients.

He added that 30,000 people who need to travel abroad are listed with the Higher Medical Committee, and thousands more are registered with medical centers in the capital Sana’a, and other governorates.

He called on the World Health Organisation to revive the medical air bridge and take advantage of the positive atmosphere of the truce.

The director of Sanaa International Airport, Khaled al-Shayef, stated that the airport, since the decision to close it five years ago, has been turned into an airport for employees of UN organisations only.

He said that more than 5,000 UN flights have landed at Sanaa International Airport since it was closed to the public five years ago.

He stated that most UN flights towards Sana’a International Airport since it was closed to civilian flights came for the special purposes of UN staff and their families.

He revealed that these UN organizations have not allowed any Yemeni patients board their flights to or from Sana’a International Airport.

E.M